Shadows Redeemed (Garrison Security Innovations #4)

Chapter 11

CHAPTER ELEVEN

THE SOFT GLOW OF early morning light filtered through the heavy hotel curtains as Sage stirred from her slumber. Her eyes fluttered open, taking a moment to adjust to her surroundings, the room still cast mostly in darkness. As she laid there, savoring the warmth of her sheets and ignoring the call of her body, the events of the previous night came rushing back, and she felt a mix of emotions wash over her.

Opening her eyes all the way, she rolled over, smiling over at Parker, who lay sleeping peacefully, his chest rising and falling with each breath. She studied his face, noting how different he looked asleep—softer, younger somehow. She resisted the urge to reach out and touch him, not wanting to disturb his rest.

With practiced ease of making good her escape before her night’s fun woke up, she slid out of bed, her movements slow and deliberate to avoid waking him. She padded silently across the plush carpet until she could gather some clean clothes from her suitcase and headed to the bathroom. She dressed efficiently, smoothing out the wrinkles in her top as best she could, making sure everything fit right and didn’t look as if she just tossed it on. A quick glance in the mirror confirmed she looked presentable enough for the day, though her hair was a bit mussed. She ran her fingers through it, attempting to tame the worst of the tangles before surrendering the effort. It was what it was.

Once she reached the door to her room, she paused long enough to cast one last glance at the man she’d spent the night with, a throbbing settling between her legs, and then she slipped out of the room, closing the door softly behind her. The hallway was quiet, most guests still asleep at this early hour. She made her way toward the elevators, her mind already shifting to the tasks that lay ahead to prove Jacob’s innocence and get her ass back home.

The suddenness of the night struck her anew as she stepped onto the elevator. Just yesterday, she’d focused solely on the case, on finding Jacob and uncovering the truth about the cop’s death. Now, here she was, sneaking out of her own room after a night of passionate, unexpected sex with his brother.

Her mind drifted to Jacob, the man she’d once dated, the man who was now at the center of their investigation. Not for the first time, she couldn’t help but marvel at how different the two brothers were. Where Jacob had been all charm and amiable smile, Parker was intense and brooding. Jacob had a way of making everything seem effortless, while Parker approached life with a seriousness that bordered on grim determination.

She shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts. This wasn’t the time to be drawing comparisons between the brothers or pondering the potential of her and Parker’s newfound connection. There was work to be done if she was ever going to put this chapter of her life behind her.

As she rounded a corner, she nearly collided with a housekeeping cart. The cleaning lady, a middle-aged woman with kind eyes, apologized profusely, but Sage smiled and waved off the woman’s apology. “No worries.”

However, before continuing on her way, Sage’s eyes fell on a keycard tucked into one of the cart’s pockets. Without hesitation, she palmed it, her movements swift and practiced.

“Have a good day,” she called over her shoulder as she continued down the hall, the stolen keycard burning a hole in her pocket. She pushed aside the twinge of guilt she felt at having stolen from the poor woman, claiming that it was necessary for the investigation and that she’d return it on her way back.

Reaching Parker’s room, she hesitated for just a moment, looking up and down the hallway before swiping the card. The lock clicked open, and she stepped inside, her heart racing with anticipation and a touch of dread.

But the room was empty. Just like she knew it would be.

She stood in the doorway, her eyes scanning every corner of the space. He had left the bed rumbled, and bloody gauze covered the small table by the window, but otherwise, there was no evidence Jacob had ever been there.

For several long minutes, she remained rooted to the spot, a flood of memories washing over her. She remembered the first time she’d met him, his easy laugh, and the way his eyes crinkled at the corners when he smiled. She thought of their whirlwind romance, the excitement and passion that had burned so brightly between them.

However, as quickly as those happy memories came, so too did the painful ones. The arguments, the lies, the growing suspicion that Jacob wasn’t the man she’d thought he was. And now, here she was, investigating him for murder while sleeping with his brother. Correction. Slept with his brother. That was it. Once. It was out of her system.

The stark differences between the two brothers struck her anew. Where Jacob had been a force of nature, sweeping her off her feet with grand gestures and bold promises, Parker was steady and grounded, his intensity focused inward. He possessed a quiet strength that drew her in despite her best efforts to maintain professional distance.

She shook her head, forcing herself back to the present. She couldn’t afford to get lost in memories or comparisons. There was a job to do, and she needed to focus.

With one last glance around the empty room, she stepped back into the hallway, closing the door firmly behind her. She made her way to Dane’s room, her mind already shifting to the tasks ahead. If the Broussards had set Jacob up, it begged the question why? Did they figure out he was undercover? And who killed the cop? Jacob seemed to have created a lot of enemies, but then again, that was Jacob, the proverbial bull in a China shop.

She knocked softly on the door to Elvis’s room, where they had set up base last night, hearing the muffled sounds of movement inside before it swung open. Her boss, a man in his early thirties with short-cropped, sandy brown hair and a tattoo on his arm, nodded in greeting.

“Morning. Come on in and join the party.” He pointed to a counter along the side wall. “Coffee and bagels over there.”

They had transformed the suite into a makeshift command center, with Gage and Elvis taking up the bedroom. Laptops and monitors covered every available surface, while wires and cords snaked across the floor. Covering the walls, maps and photos created a spider’s web of connections and theories. She recognized some of the men on the wall. Jacob was one, and then a couple of the Broussards. The team had been busy while she had enjoyed her night with Parker, pushing the case out of her mind for a while, and guilt filled her for letting them handle the heavy load when she was the one who brought them there.

Blaze glanced up at her from his computer, smiling at her as he gave her a slight dip of his head in greeting. Beside him, his girlfriend, Melinda, kept her focus on her laptop. Blaze’s fingers never stopped moving across the keyboard, but his eyes met hers with a questioning look. “You don’t look too happy. Everything all right?”

She turned to Dane as she made her way to the coffee. “Jacob was in Parker’s room last night. A bullet in his shoulder.”

Dane cocked a brow, his coffee mug halfway to his lips. “And you didn’t call?”

“Same thing I asked Parker when I saw him bandaging up his brother.” She shrugged as she poured herself a cup of morning wake-me-up. “He would have been gone by the time you got there, anyway.” She finished pouring her cup and then turned and leaned back on the counter. “He says he didn’t kill the cop, nor did he steal the Broussards’ money. I think that’s what we need to focus on.”

Blaze turned back to his laptop. “I’ll tap into the hotel’s security cameras. See if I can pick up his trail.”

She merely nodded as she lifted her cup to her lips. Jacob wasn’t their next step. The Broussards were, and whoever they had on their payroll at NOPD. “I still have some contacts around here. I can reach out, see what I can find.”

The others started filing through the door, everyone wishing everyone else a good morning, most half-asleep. Marissa fixed everyone coffee and pointed at the bagels, for which Elvis seemed the most grateful.

Dane slid into a chair, his cup held up in front of him as he studied her. “Any ideas where he might go for help? Surely, he knows he can’t do this alone.”

She licked her lips as she lowered her cup. “I might have a couple of ideas, but the truth is, Jacob has always been a loner. He prefers it that way, probably because there’s no one looking over his shoulders when he goes off the rails.”

Dane scoffed. “Not good for his case right now. If he had someone he checked in with, they could alibi him out. Or at the least, stick up for him.”

The sound of hurried footsteps in the hallway caught their attention seconds before a frantic rap on the door jarred the frame. Gage opened it and in stumbled a disheveled and clearly agitated Parker. Sage almost smirked.

“You were right.” His voice was a mix of anger and disbelief. “He’s gone.”

She nodded as she lifted her mug once more. “I know. I went to your room this morning.”

Elvis looked at her, a smirk twisting his lips. She simply shrugged, knowing the man had quickly put two and two together and came up with a good time.

Parker’s eyes widened, desperation clouding his features. “But we have to find him. Someone’s already shot him once. I doubt they’ll miss a second time. Why are we just standing around?”

The accusation in his tone made her bristle, and she squared her shoulders, glaring at him. “Your brother more than made it clear he didn’t want our help. If he goes off and gets himself killed, then that’s on him. I’m here to find the mole in the police department and who wants your brother in an early grave. Now, you can either sit here with us and help us do that, or go running after your numskull brother. Up to you.”

She could feel the others’ eyes on her, acutely aware of their presence, knowing they focused on the scene in the room, but weren’t about to step in. She didn’t care. One night of passion wasn’t enough for her to bow down to Parker’s wants. She had her own way of doing things, and she wasn’t about to change now. For anyone.

“Regardless of what you or I believe or what your brother says, he’s still a suspect in a murder case. And that’s how we’re approaching it.”

She could feel the tension radiating off him, could practically hear the arguments forming in his mind. But before he could voice them, Dane cleared his throat.

“Let’s focus on the task at hand, shall we?” His tone reminded her that even though he was there to help her, he was still in charge. It was his team, after all. “We need to do both. Find Jacob and find the mole. Sage, you said you had some contacts, right? Go shake some trees and let’s see what falls out. Take Parker with you.” He then turned to Elvis and Gage. “You two find Jacob.”

Sage nodded, grateful for the interruption, even though she was less than pleased with who Dane teamed her up with. “We’re on it.”

As they left the room, the tension between her and Parker was palpable, and she knew it had nothing to do with the case. They walked in silence to the elevator, neither quite ready to address the elephant in the room.

It wasn’t until they reached the parking garage that Parker finally spoke. “Look, about last night, I just…” He let his words trail off as he ran a hand through his hair in frustration.

She felt a mix of emotions swirling inside her—guilt, uncertainty, and a longing she wasn’t quite ready to acknowledge. “Parker…” She paused, taking a deep breath. “Last night was… it was unexpected. And complicated.”

He turned to look at her, his eyes searching her face. “Is that all it was to you? Unexpected and complicated?”

The raw vulnerability in his voice made her heart clench. She wanted to reassure him, to tell him it meant more to her than that. But the truth was, she wasn’t sure what it meant. Not yet. And she really didn’t want to take the time to figure it all out.

She took a deep breath, one hand going to her hip. “Look, this is a mess in and of itself. The two of us… last night… it just makes it more so. However, we need to focus on getting Jacob cleared.”

“And once we do that?”

She sighed, giving a slow shake of her head. “And then we’ll talk.”

A soft grin drifted across his face, lighting up his eyes with almost boyish glee. “Then we should get going. We’ve got a job to do and a conversation to have.”

She nodded, following him to the car. As they pulled out of the parking garage, she couldn’t help but wonder if she’d made a mistake. Not in helping Jacob clear his name, but in allowing herself to get involved with Parker in the first place. It blurred the lines between personal and professional in a way that could compromise everything. She preferred to keep her fun on the other side of her work. Most of the time, that is.

As the city streets flew by outside the window, she found herself caught between two brothers, between duty and desire, between the pull of the past and the uncertain promise of the future. She didn’t have the answers, not yet. But as they headed for the bar she found Parker at yesterday, she knew one thing for certain—things were about to get a whole lot more complicated.